Harvard refused to change their policies as tRump demanded. He has frozen $2.3 billion of Federal Funding. Now he is trying to change their tax status because his feefees got hurt. Say it with me, “Awwwww poor baby”. Agent Orange really is a baby. He wants everything his way and cries and screams if he doesn’t get it. Too bad for you, asshole. You lose!
He thinks that he can change Harvard’s tax-exempt status to that of a political entity. Good grief. I’m pretty sure he can’t do that. I’ll have to check into it. From CNN: “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed [sic] as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’ Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” Trump posted on Truth Social. That’s some serious screaming going on there.
Some universities caved. Harvard didn’t. They said “enough” and pushed back. They are standing up for their work and teaching. It makes me want to go to school there, but I won’t, because there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of me even being able to get it. Again from CNN: “The Trump administration has threatened numerous colleges across the US with funding cuts if changes in school policy weren’t made, and Harvard’s move appears to mark the first time an elite university has rebuked the White House over those demands.” I hope this encourages other schools to stand up for themselves.
Oh my goodness gracious. I just went and searched for the list of schools, and it is MUCH bigger than I had thought it was! There is a bunch of information, so I’ll just give you the names. From The Times of India: Columbia University, Brown University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, and Northwestern University. Yikes! I absolutely did not remember seeing all of these schools in the news giving in to Agent Orange’s crap. The only one I could remember off the top of my head was Columbia University. How embarrassing.
From “The Harvard Gazette”: “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a message to the community. He added: “No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.” Well, how about *that*, Traitor Tot? Game Over. You lose!
From ABC News: Former President Barack Obama, in a statement, praised Harvard University for rejecting President Donald Trump’s demands as the university faces a funding freeze for alleged inaction on antisemitism. “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions — rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect,” Obama posted on X late Monday. “Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.” *That* may very well encourage other schools to push back, too, federal funding or no. Incidentally, Obama went to and graduated from Harvard.
One last piece of information for you, again from “The Harvard Gazette”: Robust research and innovation partnerships among universities, the federal government, and private industry date to World War II. Government-backed research conducted at schools across the nation has led to countless discoveries, devices, treatments, and other advances that have helped shape the modern world. Computers, robotics, artificial intelligence, vaccines, and treatments for devastating diseases have all stemmed from government-financed research that crosses from labs and libraries into industry, creating new products, companies, and jobs.
Harvard is standing up for what it believes in, the courses that are taught, and more, such as the organizations for students to support what they believe in. They are arguing against the Mango Mandarin Messiah, stating that “the changes pushed by the government exceed its lawful authority and infringe on both the University’s independence and its constitutional rights.”
Harvard is standing up for itself. May other universities follow in its footsteps. They set an example all of us, not just schools, can use. We can work out ways to push back, too. It’s just a matter of where to start. Is it grassroots organizations? Is it getting through to our elected representatives? It can start small and grow, just like the Hands Off! Protests did. We can *still* do something. And I need to learn to not give up. Right?
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Fortunately for Harvard, it has the greatest financial backing of any university, it’s financial resources, include a $53 billion endowment. Although this is being tested by the Trump administration’s freeze on $2.2 billion in federal funding, Harvard can certainly weather the storm for a few years.
After all the income it earns from $53 billion in investments won’t be negligible.
Wow, I did not know that. Even better, then. They really don’t have that much to lose.
If I understand it correctly, the 2.2 billion is just the beginning. I think there is a total of like 9 billion that they receive from the feds. However, I still am very proud of them for not buckling under his pressure to control everyone and everything.